Sewing-machine needle mechanism.



E. ALLEN. SEWING MACHINE NEEDLE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. T. I9I4.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

WITNESSES:

j Menara.

nnwaian B. ALLEN, yor Barnenron'r, ccnnncrrcnnnssrenon To 'run einem. MANUFACTURING contratar, n coarona'rroiv or NEW J'nnsnY.

SEWING-MACHINE NEEDLE MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

y Patented Nov. 2,3, 1915.

.application led. @catcher 7, 18114. Serial No. 865,446.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD B. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 'Sewing- Machine Needle Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention has for its primary object to provide means for sustaining a reciprocating and laterally jogging needle which shall be simple and rigid in construction and shall contain a minimum number of joints between the moving parts so as to obviate lost motion between the primary actuating means and the needle and thereby insure precision in the movements of the Vneedle in its coperation with the loop-taking mechanism.

In the preferred construction of the improvement, the needle-bar is provided with a yoke having a cross-member affording a guide element spaced from and parallel with which is a supporting pin upon which is slidingly mounted a needle-carrying block vforked to embrace said cross-bar. Arranged parallel with the needle and fixed relatively to the latters reciprocating movements is a guide-post engaged by one of the lateral members of said yoke for restraining the needle-bar against rotation relatively to the support of said guide-post. The needlecarrying slideblock has a lateral stud embraced by the forked depending arm of an elbow-lever fulcrumed upon the support of said guide-post and having a lateral arm provided with a stud which enters the segmentaly guideway of a reciprocating frame having a crank-and-pitman connection with i the actuating shaft from which the needle derives its lateral jogging movements, the

stud of the needle-carryingl slide-block the present improvement is embodied, is

working in its lower positions in either one of two 'guide-channels rigidly 'sustainedsby the support of said guide-'post which,in the type of buttonhole' sewing machine' in which adapted to rotate relatively to the actuating shaft and the needle-actuating frame.

j In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation showing the needle-actuating mechanism of the present improvement as embodied in a buttonhle 'machine of the type represented in'my'United States Patent No. 945,148, of January 4, 1910, with the bracket-arm represented 'in dotted lines, and Figs.' 2 and 3 are front elevations o-f the same with the parts in different positions. Fig. 41s a bottom plan view of the parts of the needle-jogging mechanism beneath the head of the bracket-arm, and Fig. 5 an elevation of a portion thereof with the segmental guide-meinberlin transverse section. Fig. 6 is an elevation o-f a portion of the needlejogging means taken from a position at right angles to that of Fig. 5.

Journaled in the overhanging member 1 of the sewing machine bracket-arm is'the rotary shaft 2 carryingthe disk 3 having'the intersecting diametrical grooves 4 entered 'by the roller-studs 5 of the disk 6 whose hub 7 is secured upon the needle-actuating shaft trammel device comprising the disks 3 and 6, two rotations for each rotation of the shaft 2. The shaft 8 carries a crank-disk 9 provided with a crank-pin 10 connected by means of the pitman 11 with the lateral stud 12 of a collar 13 loosely embracing but restrained against en'dwise movement upon the reciprocating needle-bar 14. The needlebar is journaled above the collar13 in the bearing boss 15 of the bracket-arm head, and. below the same in the rotary bushing 16 journaled in the lower member'v of the bracket-arm head and having fixed thereon the pinion 17 meshing with the rack-bar 18 which is connected with the reciprocating bar 19 slidingly mounted within 'bearing members 2O and'21 o-f the bracket-arm. The bushingl has at its lower end beneath the bracket-arm head the block 22 from which depends at one side of the needle-bar the post 23 having on the side adjacent the needie-bar a lateral groove or fchannelway in which is slidingly fitted onel of the depending members 24 ofa yokeY whoseconnecting cross-member 25 is fixed to the lower end of lthe needle-bar which latter is-by this means confined in fixed angular relation to the post 23 and its supporting block22.

Passing through one of ythe depending yoke members 24 and tapped into the other is the transverse screw-pin 2G arranged substantially parallel with the yoke member` 25.

Slidingly fitted upon the pin 26. is the' hub f 27 of the needle-carrying block 28 provided with 4an upwardly extending forked arm comprising therigid member. 29 .and the the transverse adjusting screw-pin 31 connecting thesemembers and adapted to mainy with'the guiding cross-member 25.

-tain them snugly-in operative engagement The v.block 28 is formed in its lower end'with the usual socket in which is clamped by means i of the screw 32 the needle 33. The described Y'mounting of the needle upon the needle-bar Ais designedto secure facility and laccuracy inmanufacture of the parts and to insure rigidity of the needle-carrying block with durability of themoving parts`in extended use. While the employment of a'cylindrical supporting pin 26 insures a close circumferential fit thereon of the similarly apertured block 28, the essential feature ofthe beareing between these two elements is the close contact between them upon the sides lof the bearing pin adjacent to and remote from the l ""5""o sssmember-25. The function of this support the needle-carrying block eady the same against tilting in a plane passing through the am's of the pin 26,

" v while-'the function of the yoke-member 25,

" of theblock 28, is to steady the needle-carryclosely embraced by the forked arm 2930 A g, block from lateral or rocking movemen :the flattened stud-pin 34 adapted to enter alternately the parallel guide-'channels 35 fof the rigid arm 36"-'secured vby screws 37 y"-uponvthe supporting" block 22. Fulcrumed pon such supporting pin.- -1

, -."EXtending laterally from the rigid membeiof 'the 'forked arm of, the needle-block is vupon' the block 22 above 'said stud-pin by fme'ans. of the fulcrumscrew 38 is an elbowleverhaving the depending forked arm 39 adapted to embrace the stud-pin 34 when in its upper position, wherein `it is retracted from.I the channels 35, said elbow-lever having a lateral arm 40. carrying .the stud-pin 41. o vThe stud-pini 41 enters the circular ..Qf'guide-groove or channel 42 of a rigid ring 43 Kser arranged beneath the bracket-arm head and substantially concentric with the needle-bar fand'havingiat one side a hub 44 which is [securedbymeansof the crosspin 45 upon ftheflowerend ofthe-'reciprocatlng bar 46 'f f which'is journaled in suitable bearing aper` 5.5!.'

ztureslof the bracket-arm head. Withinthe cavity of thebrafcket-arm head the bar 46 has secured thereonby means of the set- 'screw 47 the collar-*48 lfrom which extends laterally-the rigid-arm49 whose outer end 1494- is fitted'within'a suitable guide-aperture f 50 of the bracket-'arm head; -To the arm 49 i 4Lis-pivotall'y connected by means o'f the screw,-

l'pin'51 the apertured lower end of a 'link 52 fwh'ose apertured upper end is adjustably connected by means of the stud-screw 53 of the rock-shaft 55 is the split hub 56 of a lateral arm 57 formed in its outer end with a fork 58 embracing the actuating eccentric 59 upon the shaft 2. Through the means just described, the rigid framey comprising the 'bar 46, the cross-bar 49 andthe uide-rin 43, receives from the main-sha t' vertica reciprocatory movements of one-half the frequency of the needle reciprocations, the needle slide-block deriving its lateral jog ging movements from the ring 43 through the elbowflever 39, 40 operatively engaging the stud-pin 34 to shift the same alternately into alinement with the rigid guide-channels 35 by Which the needle is maintained against lateral movement in its lower posi`-,

tions and while inthe work: The ring 43 is\ shown provided diametrically opposite the' boss 44 with. a lateral ear 43 which is apertured to loosely embrace a steady-pin 60 secured .within and depending from the bracket-arm head. A

In the operation vof the'mechanism, the needle-bar derives, thro-ugh its trammelconnection with the main-shaft 2, two reciproca-tions for -each rotation of the main- 'shaft, the needle jogging frame 43 46 49 performing. reciprocating movements of one-half the frequency of those of the needle-bar. Through the elbow-lever 39 40 the needle slide-block derives from the actuating frame its sliding. movements upon the guidefpin 2.6 and theguide element afforded by the cross-bar 25 of the needle-bar yoke, these movements being performed only while the needle-bar is in its upper position and While the stud-pin 34 is above the upper ends o-f the relatively fixed guidechannels'35, as described more fully in my Patents Nos'. 945,148, of Jan. r4, 1910- and 1,030,046, of June 18, 1912. yIn the turning of the stitch-forming elements in stitching arcund'the eye of an eyeleteend buttonhole, the stud-pin 41 obviously follows the turning movements of the bearing sleeve 16, operating indifferent parts. of the groove 42 in the ring 43. Obviously this internally grou-ved ringconstitutes a segmental guide member, the extent of which is determined. by the extent of rotary movement of thc1 stitch-forming mechanism.- In some machinesf of this type, as in the present instancfthe stitching devices are,designed to perform a complete rotation, in which casethe segmental extent of the ring 43 isl ajcomplete circle; but in other cases, as for instance in the machine of my Patent No., 734,794, of July' 28, 1903, the stitching mechanism performs only a semi-rotation, .in which 'case the form of thering 43 maaar? would be that of a lsegment of little more than a seii-circle.`

By the present improvement, the usual spline-and-groove connection between the needle andthe rotary bushing in which it is journaled in this type of machine is re* placed by `a sliding connection comprising the channeledpost 23 and yoke member 24 remote from' the axis of the needle-bar, thereby providing a strong and durable vconnection to. insure the proper circular relation, between the needle and said bushing andthe proper operative relation of the needle with the loop-taking means. The

:gui-ding of the needle-clamp upon the guidepin 26 by. a connection with the needle,-

vbar'yoke cross-bar `25 affords a similar against rocking upon the pin v26.

'needle is thus rigidly held against lateral 'deflection in the plane ofthe pin 26 by the means of Vrestraining the needle-clamp The long bearing thereon a'orded by the hub 27 and in a transverse planeby its sliding connection with the cross-bar 25.

In order to insure thepermanent parallelism of the needle with the needle-ban, the

'member 29 of the forked armof the needle s1i debock is made rigid and the arm 30 is lmade yielding, so that in taking up the ,.wear upon the cross-bar-25lby means of the Ascrew 31 the position of theneedle will not be materially ,changed vBy the present cons ruction, asimple connection'is made between the crankfarm 54 of the needle-jogging rock-shaft 55 and the 4needle'carrying slide-block 28 without materially cutting away and weakening the 'bearing portion of lthe bracket-arm head, as )the connection between the parts within and beneath such head is made only through the reciprocating bar 46 slidingly iournaled within simple bearing apertures of the bracket-arm head. V Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is l. 1n 'a sewing machine, in combination, aneedle-bar, a transverse guide-pin rigidly sustained by said needle-bar, a transverse l guide element carried by said .needle-bar and substantially parallel' with said guidepin, a' needle-carrying block slidingly mounted upon said guide-pin with which fit vhas bearing contactat the sides of said pin respectivelyA adjacent and farthestfrom Saidguidaelement and operatively engaging said guide element, and means for re' ciprocating said block lengthwise of said l'guide-pin.

- 2. In a sewing machine, in combination, a needle-bar, a transverse cylindrical guidepin rigidly' sustained by said need1e-bar, a transverse guide element carried by said needle-barand substantially. parallel with said guide-pin, a. needleoarrying block formed with a cylindrical aperture fitted to said guide-pin and provided withl a fork toy litted upon said guide-pin respectively at the vsides ofthe latter adjacent and more remote from said guide-element of the yoke and'having a fork embracing said guide element, and means for reciprocating said block lengthwise of said glide-pin.

a. 1n a sewing machine, in combination,`

a needle-bar, a yoke sustained thereby and comprising a cross-bar constituting aguide element and laterally spaced depending members, a cylindrical guide-pin sustained" by andl extending between the depending members .of said yoke, a needle-carrying block formed with a cylindrical' aperture fitted to said guide-pin, and having a fork embracing said guide `element of thel yoke and a laterally projecting stud-pin, and means including a vibratory. lever forked to embrace said stud-pin and mounted independently of said needlebar for reciprocating said block upon the guide-pin.

5. 1n a sewing machine, in combination, a rotary bearing member, a reciprocating needle-bar carrying a laterally movable needle and journaled in and` adapted to turn with vsaid member, a segmental guide embracing and reciprocating lengthwise of the needlebar and sustained independently of v said needle-bar, and a lever engaging said guide and communicating from it to the needle lateral jogging movements.

v6. ln a sewing machine,- in combination, a support, a rotary bearing member journaled therein, a reciprocating needle-bar journaled in and adapted to turn with said member, 1a laterally movable needle carried by said needle-bar, a segmental guide em- -bracing the needle-bar, a reciprocating bar having said guide rigidly secured thereto .and journaled' in said support independently "of said needle-bar, a lever fulcrumedon said bearing member and engaging said guide toV 'communicate from it to the needle lateral jogging movements, and means for actuating the guide-carrying bar.

7 Yln a sewing machine, in combination, a support, a rotary bearing member journaled therein, a reciprocating needle-bar journaled within and adapted to turn with said membei', a laterally movable needle carried by said needle-bar, a segmental guide embracing the needle-bar and having a groove in its inner face, means for reciprocating said dle-clamp block carried by. said needle-bar and provided' with a lateral stud-pin, aV

needle mounted in said block, means for reciprocating the needle-bar, means for imparting to the needle-clamp block lateral jogging movements, a rigid post carried by `said member and having va gideway to Which the laterally projecting element 'of the Aneedle-bar is tted, and aguide-arm also carried by said member and formed with parallel channels entered alternately by the stud-pin of said needle-clamp block.

9. -In a sewing mchine, in combination, a support, a rotary bearing member journaled therein, a reclprocating needle-bar jour-` naled in said member and having a 'laterally projecting element, a laterally 4movable needle-'clamp block carried by said needlebar and provided with a lateral stud-pin, a needle mounted in said block, means for reciprocating the needle-bar, means for imparting lateral jogging movements to the needleclamp .block, a laterally groovedI guidepost carried by said memberand entered bv the laterally projecting member of the needle-bar, and av guide-arm also carried by said member and formed with parallel channels adapted to be enteredalternately by the stud-pin of said needle-clamp block.

' 10. .In a sewing machine, in "combination, a support, a rotary bearing member journaled therein, a reciprocating needle-bar,l a yoke. sustained by said needle-bar and comprising a cross-bar and laterally spaced depending members, a guide-pin sustained by ,and extending between the depending members of vsaid yoke, a needle-carrying block slidingly mounted upon said gu1de-pin and communicating to it having 'means for restraining it from turning thereon and provided with a lateral stud-pin, a needle mounted in said block, means`for imparting lateral jogging movements-to the 'needle-carrying block, a laterally grooved guide-post carried by said bearing member'and embracing one of said dcpending yoke members, and a guide-arm also carried bysaid bearing member and formed with parallel channels adapted to be entered alternately by the stud-pin of said needle-carrying block.

11. In a sewing machine, in combination, a needle-bar, a transverse guide-pin rigidly sustained by said needle-bar, a transverse guide element lcarried by said needle-bar and substantially parallel with said guidepin, a needle-carrying block slidingly mounted upon said guide-pin and lprovided with a forked arm having spaced members embracing said guide element and one of which is adapted to" yield relatively to the other, an adjusting -screw connecting said spaced members of the forked "arm, and means for reciprocating said block length' wise of said guide-pin.l

12. Ina sewing machine, in combination, a support, a rotary bearing member journaled therein, a reciprocating needle journaled in and adapted to turn with said member, a laterally movable needle carried by said needle-bar, a segmental guide embracing the needle-bar, a reciprocating bar carrying said guide and journaled in saidsupport, a-steady pin sustained by said support at the side of the needle-bar opposlte the guide-carrying bar and entering an aperture in said guide, a lever engaging said guide and communicating from it to the 4 needle lateral jogging movements, and means for actuating the guide-carryingA bar. .In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification,` in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

EDWARD B. ALLEN. Witnesses:

STANLEY N. SMITH, H. M. BURNS. 

